McCain picks a lady

[Roofus]

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain introduced his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, at a raucous rally Friday in Ohio, praising her "tenacity" and "skill" in tackling tough problems.

Palin becomes the first woman to serve on a GOP presidential ticket and the first Alaskan to appear on a national ticket.

"She is exactly who this country needs to help us fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second," McCain told his Dayton, Ohio, audience.

Palin returned McCain's praise, saying he is a candidate who threatens the status quo in Washington.

"This is a matter when principles .... matter more than the party line," she said to the crowd of 15,000.

Palin was elected Alaska's first woman governor in 2006, defeating Gov. Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary.

“I've been blessed with the right timing here,” Palin said before the election. “There's no doubt that Alaskans right now are dealing in an atmosphere of distrust of government and industry.”

She has proven to be a popular governor. Eighty percent of the state's voters gave her a "somewhat favorable" or "very favorable" rating in a July 2008 poll.

Palin's selection was a stunning surprise, as McCain passed over many other better-known prospects, some of whom had been the subject of intense speculation for weeks or months.

At 44, she is a generation younger than Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.

She is three years Obama's junior, as well, and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.

On Aug. 1, Palin scored a major victory when the Alaska legislature passed a bill that authorizes her administration to award a license to TransCanada Alaska to build a 1,715-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope to a hub in Canada.

The pipeline would be the largest construction project in the history of North America. If completed as hoped within ten years, it would ship 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. The United States imported about 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2007.

But Palin’s seemingly bright future was clouded in late July when the state legislature voted to hire an independent investigator to find out whether she tried to have a state official fire her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.

The allegation was made by former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, whom Palin fired in mid-July.

“It is a governor’s prerogative, a right, to fill that cabinet with members whom she or he believes will do best for the people whom we are serving,” Palin told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow in an interview on Aug. 1. “So I look forward to any kind of investigation or questions being asked because I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Palin also reacted to the indictment of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens by calling it “very dismaying.” She added, “Hopefully though, this won’t be a distraction and get people’s minds off what has to be done in the grand scheme of things.”

As for the prospect of her being vice president, Palin told Kudlow that she could not answer the question of whether she wanted the job “until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day. I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here….”

Democrats pounced on the news that McCain chose Palin, characterizing the move as a gamble.

"After the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said. "Certainly the choice of Palin puts to rest any argument about inexperience on the Democratic team."

But conservatives praised her anti-abortion credentials.

"Sarah Palin is pleasant surprise for those of us who had hoped that Senator McCain would pick a principled and authentic conservative pro-life leader," former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said.

Huckabee also used the Palin pick to appeal to disaffected supporters of Hillary Clinton.

"Governor Palin ... will remind women that if they are not welcome on the Democrat's ticket, they have a place with Republicans." he said.

Palin is married to Todd Palin, a lifelong Alaskan who is a production operator on the North Slope and a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, which is described as “the world's longest snow-machine race.”

They have five children. Their son, Track, enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 2007.

Palin gave birth to their fifth child, Trig, last April. The baby boy has Down syndrome, a genetic abnormality that impedes a child's intellectual and physical development.

"When we first heard, it was kind of confusing," Palin said, according to an account in the Anchorage Daily News. She called the news "very, very challenging."

But she added in a note, imagining what God would say to her family, "Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome."

Palin made a name for herself in Alaska politics by serving as mayor of Wasilla City for six years and going on to run unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2002.

After her unsuccessful run, Palin received an appointment to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, where she ended up serving a role in an ethics probe into Republican Party Chairman Randy Reudrich, who was questioned about conflicts of interest with the oil industry.

The investigation ultimately forced Ruedrich to resign from the commission.

Palin's role in the investigation left her a party outsider, but she was able to win the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary against Murkowski, going on to win the 2006 general election by seven points over her Democratic opponent.

During one debate before the primary, Palin said she was in favor of capital punishment in especially heinous cases such as the murder of a child. "My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah,” she said. Palin opposes abortion rights.

Born in Idaho, Palin moved to Alaska with her parents in 1964, when they went there to teach school.

She received a degree in communications and journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987.

Source: MSNBC

[|darc|]

I guess he really, really wants those Hillary voters.

[Ex-Cyber]

Governor Palin ... will remind women that if they are not welcome on the Democrat's ticket, they have a place with Republicans.

Yeah, because women will only vote for the ticket with the most ovaries.

[|darc|]

[Ex-Cyber]

I think it's a fair question, even if the way she phrased it sounded a bit silly. The VP's Constitutionally-mandated duties are pretty limited, and the full scope depends a lot on the administration.

[Lartrak]

One thing that is interesting though - we're either going to have a black man in the oval office or a female VP. Either way, it's a pretty big first.

[melancholy]

Actually, McCain's campaign is riding on him having the first female VP and being the oldest President. See, he has one up on Obama, who can only claim first black president.

[Lartrak]

Actually, McCain's campaign is riding on him having the first female VP and being the oldest President. See, he has one up on Obama, who can only claim first black president.

He'll be the oldest elected president at 72. Reagan was 69 or 70 when elected, and 77 or 78 when he left office. So McCain would have to get a second term to be the oldest president ever.

[melancholy]

Actually, McCain's campaign is riding on him having the first female VP and being the oldest President. See, he has one up on Obama, who can only claim first black president.

He'll be the oldest elected president at 72. Reagan was 69 or 70 when elected, and 77 or 78 when he left office. So McCain would have to get a second term to be the oldest president ever.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

[I.M. Weasel]

In one respect, its not a bad choice...

McCain - Exp. , Palin - Charisma
Obama - Charisma, Biden - Exp.

But lying to make your party seem the best, well, I detest it.

LINK: The truth, hurts.

[|darc|]

She can't pronounce nuclear

[melancholy]

I did like her speech. In fact, I think it was just the thing the Republican party needed to re-energize their campaign. However, as much as I'm starting to like Palin, I still hate McCain.

[|darc|]

I did like her speech. In fact, I think it was just the thing the Republican party needed to re-energize their campaign. However, as much as I'm starting to like Palin, I still hate McCain.

Are you talking about her speech of lies?

[Ex-Cyber]

What killed me at the Republican convention was Romney's line "It's time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother". It's been a while since I've read 1984, but I seem to remember Big Brother representing an authoritarian party that maintained power by cultivating fear and hatred of other countries, maintaining a never-ending state of war, and engaging in unchecked spying on the people...

Also, I get the distinct impression that the Republican strategy for the past 20 years or so has been to more or less re-enact Reagan vs. Carter, regardless of what's actually going on with current events and policy positions.

[melancholy]

I did like her speech. In fact, I think it was just the thing the Republican party needed to re-energize their campaign. However, as much as I'm starting to like Palin, I still hate McCain.

Are you talking about her speech of lies?

I can't help but to think that somewhere on the interwebs there is a similarly written column on Obama's Democratic Convention speech.

[I.M. Weasel]

To Melancholy(and everyone)

Here is the lies from Obamas speech. I havent read it, but can only hope... that there are less exaggerations/lies than McCains.

The truth always hurts.

[pavelbure]

To Melancholy(and everyone)

Here is the lies from Obamas speech. I havent read it, but can only hope... that there are less exaggerations/lies than McCains.

The truth always hurts.

cut the guy a break. according to him he has been to 57 states. he's tired.

listening to obama speak is like listening some dimwit on the street corner, or some guy in a coffee shop at best.

articulate ? give me a break.

[I.M. Weasel]

To Melancholy(and everyone)

Here is the lies from Obamas speech. I havent read it, but can only hope... that there are less exaggerations/lies than McCains.

The truth always hurts.

cut the guy a break. according to him he has been to 57 states. he's tired.

listening to obama speak is like listening some dimwit on the street corner, or some guy in a coffee shop at best.

articulate ? give me a break.

Why should I put any faith in the Pub party after the last 8 years? Especially when their candidates are not being verbose about their plans for the state of the nation?

[Wagh]

I can't fathom any reason why she should be vp. Hell I dont even understand why anyone could vote republican in this election.

[melancholy]

I can't fathom any reason why she should be vp. Hell I dont even understand why anyone could vote republican in this election.

They couldn't...until he picked a woman. Now he has a fighting chance solely because he picked a woman. And not just any woman, a soccer mom.